Huntsman Confident in Mine Rescue Efforts

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) In a somber press conference late yesterday, Governor Jon Huntsman declared his satisfaction with the ongoing mine rescue effort in Huntington:

"I'm absolutely confident as governor of this state that everything that can be done is being done," says Huntsman. "The rescue efforts are in the hands of professionals and they are working jointly and collaboratively with the federal authorities who are here in taking us to what we all hope will be a happy and successful outcome for all who are involved."

Huntsman called an emergency meeting of his cabinet yesterday to put all state agencies at the ready. The Department of Human Services has mobilized counselors and clergy to assist families of the six miners who have now been trapped for more than 48 hours.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration are also helping to coordinate rescue efforts. More than 100 people - including miners from around the state - are working to make contact with the miners who were trapped 15-hundred feet underground when the mine caved-in early Monday morning.

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